... My Galaxy S3 has a combined USB, HDMI and audio port. My ancient HTC Hero had a combined USB and audio port....
Personally, I doubt that Apple is going to successfully navigate the treacherous waters of "prior art" with this patent application... however, the specific examples of the Galaxy S3 and the HTC Hero do not constitute prior art, because they both use proprietary connectors with break-out cables/adapters to accommodate multiple interfaces. (That's pretty easy to see on Google images of the two devices.) As noted by others in this thread, Apple proposes combining two or more standard ports into the physical space of a single port, allowing any one (but only one at a time) of the corresponding standard cables to be inserted into that combined port.
I really, really like Waze just the way it is, and have been using it on my iPhone since even before the whole iOS Maps debacle started... and having tried both of the new apps since then, neither Apple Maps nor Google Maps can compare to Waze, IMHO. Google better not screw this up.
This actually sends chills down my spine. Like, literally. This is only a few steps away from any Tom-Dick-or-Harry being able to see through every wall around them. Police surveillance? Military reconnaissance? Peeping on the neighbors?
And just like those infrared camcorders that were abruptly pulled from shelves, after people started using them for more than just "bird watching"... there is an absolute guarantee that this technology will be abused. Nothing you do in your own home or anywhere else will be beyond observation. Nothing.
I don't think any smart money is on an iPhone announcement at WWDC since they haven't done that in quite some time, and it would be a lot less than a year since the i5....
... And you won't se the new iPhone until September...
To both of you, I will point out that I did say that it was a lame rumor seed... and I also noted that my evidence is entirely anecdotal. I'm sure that in the next week, we will see plenty of additional anecdotal rumors both for and against various speculative product announcements.
That said... give me a break, anethema: ya just gotta use phrases like "the smart money" or "almost guaranteed!" if you're going to try to wrangle in all of those needy journalists with baseless rumors. How else are they going to justify writing up their five page link-baiting works of fiction, otherwise?:-)
(Sorry... I'm just feeling particularly cynical this morning. I'll stop now.)
Okay, I'll toss one out just for fun: I think the smart money is on an iPhone 5S announcement on June 10th, which will be a minor speed bump, and the new Mac Pro will wait until one of Apple's short-notice-press-conferences in the fall. I have no evidence for the Mac Pro speculation, other than what Cook has publicly stated about their timetables... but I have anecdotal evidence for the iPhone 5S: According to Sprint employees that I spoke to just yesterday, supplies of the current iPhone 5 are starting to dry up. (They couldn't find me the 64GB models at all... I ended up settling for a pair of 32GB models that they had shipped to the store.) When Apple starts to close off the supply chain for a given product, that's usually a good indicator of an impending replacement, and if memory serves, previous reports have suggested that Apple can flush almost their entire supply within about a week. With the WWDC just around the corner, that seems about right to me.
If a shock which doesn't hurt you can boost your mathematical skills (twitch!) for a mere six months, then obviously those electrical shocks which did hurt me, when I was fiddling (twitch!) with electronics as a kid must be what made me (twitch! twitch!) such a freaking genius!
If it doesn’t have a tail, it’s not a monkey
Even if it has a monkey kinda shape
If it doesn’t have a tail, it’s not a monkey
If it doesn’t have a tail
It’s not a monkey, it’s an ape!
First Sale Doctrine vs. copyright/trademark/patent owners is a balancing act between the originator and the buyer. Take away the privileges of either side, or grant additional powers to one side or the other, and the system becomes unbalanced... corrupted. Simply put, both pieces of legislation must remain intact, and must continue to exist in balance, or we all lose -- one way or another.
...when facing an overworked underpaid desk attendant...
Bingo. This is exactly why I came to the comments of this post... to call "bull" on Nuance, for the very reason that you've already cited:
...experts Nuance who believe we simply never want to talk to a real human again...
Nuance assumes that people don't want to have conversations with customer service reps -- but what they fail to consider is that most people do indeed enjoy human interaction... when it's actually human interaction. Whether it's the rep behind the counter at a hotel with their fake plastic smile and artificially exaggerated concern for your exhaustion, or the cashier at your local supermarket with their scowl and monotonous droning "Thank you... have a nice day..." it's all just forced and... well, predictably inhuman.
Generally speaking, people love interacting with their friends -- and for some of us, that even includes family -- and that type of camaraderie has largely been lost in today's customer services... the small town where you know Doris behind the register at the supermarket and your good buddy Joe who pumps your gas for you is gone. So the reaction from far too many people in "customer service" roles are, quite frankly, already so robotic as to offer no real advantages over the automated check-in kiosk and automated check-out registers... so why wouldn't I want the efficiency of an actual robot?
Now, mind you, if more companies were intentionally hiring employees who show genuine customer focused attitudes -- for example, in the same fashion as the folks running Chick-fil-a seem to have done -- then the pendulum might start swinging back the other way. In the absence of that, I'll go to the kiosk at every opportunity.
More weight also affects battery usage and efficiency. I'd imagine this little non-toy copter is very carefully engineered to balance the weight against the battery life. You wouldn't bother to put such engineering weight behind something manufactured to be a toy... but I wouldn't be too terribly surprised if the tech in these drones eventually makes its way to the toy market as well.
I imagine the extended battery life is one of the reasons for the standard copter design, instead of the quadcopter design. Size is almost certainly another factor; they want to minimize the space that these little drones take up in a rucksack, as much as possible.
... My Syma IR copter is impossible to fly outdoors even on days I'd consider to be relatively calm....
I have a similar IR toy copter, and I'm surprised you've been able to successfully fly it outdoors at all. The package of mine specifically states that it's not intended for outdoor use, and flying it indoors into a bright stream of sunlight coming through the front window of my house demonstrated very clearly why: the sunlight apparently obliterates the IR signals. My copter promptly became uncontrollable when it went into the sunbeam. As long as I kept it out of that sunbeam, all was fine.
Ban everyone with an incorrect or unjustified point and you'll have a pretty empty forum.
More importantly: ban just one person who knows enough to login to his Slashdot account afterwards, and you'll end up suffering the Streisand effect. At that point, it doesn't matter in the least whether or not the complainant's point was justified... they have just had a potentially significant negative impact on your business, all because you decided to foolishly attempt to censor a respectfully submitted opinion, instead of engaging in an intelligent discourse on the matter.
Or at least get it for consoles, where DRM isn't an issue.
Incorrect. DRM is still an "issue" on consoles; it's simply an issue which is so completely integrated into the system, that most people aren't even aware of it... but the reality is that console DRM is even harder to (ahem) "work around" than PC DRM. As an example: Try to make a copy of one of your console games, and then give that copy to your best friend, so that the two of you can play online together. Go ahead... we'll wait.
Well, not really... nobody is waiting for you. But then, why should we wait, when you're exceptionally unlikely to succeed at making that copy? The thing is, the process required to make a legitimate "backup" of a game (in order to have a fail-safe should your game disc ever become scratched or damaged) is exactly the same as the process required in the piracy scenario described above. This applies pretty much to all modern consoles -- and in some cases, the DRM isn't only applied to the games, but also to the saved game data and downloadable content. One recent story which highlights this with respect to Nintendo is over at ArsTechnica.com, but these issues exist to differing degrees on both PlayStation and XBox as well.
Oh... and the ultimate irony in all of this is that my current project is, by definition, an entire refactoring of a legacy project, which is no longer maintainable going forward. Life as a developer...
Incorrect; the only way to solve the "problem" of ten years of legacy code -- bad or not -- would be to refactor all of it. New Guy is obviously full of idealism and wants to do exactly that, while the OP just wants New Guy to go back to his desk and get some real work done.
Obligatory personal anecdote: On my current project, my supervisor (who is also a developer) has specifically stated that refactoring is not our priority until the deadline is met. Of course, everyone knows perfectly well that the next deadline will almost certainly be just as much of a pressure cooker as the current one -- which means that refactoring very rarely gets done at all, unless the old code is so bad that it hinders further progress. (I just finished refactoring some of our code for that very reason.)
Moral: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If it is broke, don't hesitate to acknowledge it, and do something about it.
It seems to me that this is just a few more minor discoveries away from Amy's talking tattoo. I mean, the medical applications may be important and all, but come on; I'm sure everyone here knows that practicality isn't really what drives innovation...
" 'Why do people still come to the office when they're coughing up a lung?' asks the exasperated Olshansky. 'Because unfortunately, there is a still a strong perverse culture that equates staying at home when sick with weakness.... Given that we have the tools now to complete most tasks from home,..."
I call bull. Corporate America has done everything it can to discourage staying home, period. I don't know a single person who would actually prefer to be at work while they're sick and miserable; we just don't have any other choice in the matter. For starters, some of us don't have any kind of "sick leave" that we could use for such things... we are forced to take vacation time, or "comprehensive leave" if we stay home sick. And despite the beliefs of some people, (like Olshansky, apparently) most jobs don't even have any kind of a "telecommute" equivalent... mine certainly doesn't.
Tell big businesses to give us back our sick leave, and I'll be happy to stay home and cough up my lungs there instead of in the office. Until then... I still have bills to pay.
They won't go "Well, we won't supply you any more" and get a new customer, they'll take you to court for the money.
Well... no. They'll just suspend your account for non-payment until you pay.
And that's part of the problem... the service provider ultimately has the upper hand, since the customer needs that internet connection a lot more then the service provider needs the remaining $7. As such, the reality is that pretty much any customer who tried that kind of stunt will panic and promptly pay up as soon as they realize that their internet has been shut off.
This service provider advantage is also why utility companies (gas, water, electricity, etc.) can so easily get away with charging outrageous "reconnection" fees, just to flip a switch and turn you back if you should happen to miss your payment date for some reason. As such, it's that much more important that the service provider be held accountable for their system of measurement. A "proprietary" system of measurement just doesn't hold water.
The notion that many or even most users of a new and largely untested (insert any-fracking-thing here) would prefer the one they were using and were comfortable with previously over this new and unfamiliar experience, is nothing short of blatantly obvious. Likewise, the notion that any new complex system is going to be completely perfect on day-one of release is utterly ludicrous. Crud... I'm a Mac user, and I'm not in the slightest surprised to hear that W8 users might want to go back to W7, any more then I would be surprised when any given Windows user who has migrated to a Mac expresses certain regrets over that move, now and then. Growing pains always suck... and in the case of W8, there's not really any seasoned users around, who might be able to help navigate through this new territory.
The real test of W8 will be to conduct the same type of survey a year or two from now, to see if switchers who have been using it for awhile still want to go back. Vista very (in)famously failed that test, which is what kept XP around for so long... but trying to conduct such a test now, on W8 early adopters is basically the same thing as testing to see if water is still wet.
Levity is tempting and all... but in all seriousness, YouTube is most definitely not one of my most frequented apps, and I don't sense much loss at it's removal from the default set. No loss at all, in fact... since Google will almost certainly roll out a non-bundled version of the app to coincide with the release of the final version of iOS 6. Oh, I'm sure I'll download the new YouTube app, alright, right after I install iOS 6... but it'll still sit buried in a folder, used once every few months or so when I hit an Angry Birds level that I simply can't figure out on my own -- just like the current version of the YouTube app.
Having complained bitterly about cellular prices for years myself, it actually pains me greatly to say this... but here's the thing: AT&T and Verizon are just applying standard economic principles; continue to raise prices until you can make the profit you want while expending the least amount of resources (money, time, effort, etc.). The side effect of this is obviously that many people who want lower prices will go to the less "greedy" carriers, like Sprint or T-Mobile, (which I will most likely be doing myself, not too long after the next iPhone becomes available) but the profit loss from those customers departing the greedy carriers offset by the profit increase from the remaining customers... and the greedy carriers' network performance improves in the process. Then, if their net numbers fall too much, they still have the option to dial the crazy back down a bit. (Not that I think they will necessarily... but they could. In theory.)
It may be increasingly annoying to us consumers to have to deal with the ever-changing business models of these greedy-no-good-predatory-profiteering-duopolistic-carriers... but the unfortunate reality is: it really is "just business," and not greed, per se.
(And yes... I almost pressed delete on this whole blasted message when I started to think about how much some Slashdotters are going to hate this point-of-view... but the heck with my Karma. Sometimes, ya just gotta say it like it is.)
Slashdot Mirror
... My Galaxy S3 has a combined USB, HDMI and audio port. My ancient HTC Hero had a combined USB and audio port. ...
Personally, I doubt that Apple is going to successfully navigate the treacherous waters of "prior art" with this patent application... however, the specific examples of the Galaxy S3 and the HTC Hero do not constitute prior art, because they both use proprietary connectors with break-out cables/adapters to accommodate multiple interfaces. (That's pretty easy to see on Google images of the two devices.) As noted by others in this thread, Apple proposes combining two or more standard ports into the physical space of a single port, allowing any one (but only one at a time) of the corresponding standard cables to be inserted into that combined port.
I really, really like Waze just the way it is, and have been using it on my iPhone since even before the whole iOS Maps debacle started... and having tried both of the new apps since then, neither Apple Maps nor Google Maps can compare to Waze, IMHO. Google better not screw this up.
This actually sends chills down my spine. Like, literally. This is only a few steps away from any Tom-Dick-or-Harry being able to see through every wall around them. Police surveillance? Military reconnaissance? Peeping on the neighbors?
And just like those infrared camcorders that were abruptly pulled from shelves, after people started using them for more than just "bird watching"... there is an absolute guarantee that this technology will be abused. Nothing you do in your own home or anywhere else will be beyond observation. Nothing.
Now, where did I put that tin-foil hat? ...
I don't think any smart money is on an iPhone announcement at WWDC since they haven't done that in quite some time, and it would be a lot less than a year since the i5. ...
... And you won't se the new iPhone until September ...
To both of you, I will point out that I did say that it was a lame rumor seed... and I also noted that my evidence is entirely anecdotal. I'm sure that in the next week, we will see plenty of additional anecdotal rumors both for and against various speculative product announcements.
That said... give me a break, anethema: ya just gotta use phrases like "the smart money" or "almost guaranteed!" if you're going to try to wrangle in all of those needy journalists with baseless rumors. How else are they going to justify writing up their five page link-baiting works of fiction, otherwise? :-)
(Sorry... I'm just feeling particularly cynical this morning. I'll stop now.)
You couldnt get a 64GB iPhone, so you get 2x32GB phones instead? I dont think you can treat phone space like hard disks
Touche'. To clarify: I wanted two 64GB phones, and got two 32GB phones instead. (My wife has the other one.)
Okay, I'll toss one out just for fun: I think the smart money is on an iPhone 5S announcement on June 10th, which will be a minor speed bump, and the new Mac Pro will wait until one of Apple's short-notice-press-conferences in the fall. I have no evidence for the Mac Pro speculation, other than what Cook has publicly stated about their timetables... but I have anecdotal evidence for the iPhone 5S: According to Sprint employees that I spoke to just yesterday, supplies of the current iPhone 5 are starting to dry up. (They couldn't find me the 64GB models at all... I ended up settling for a pair of 32GB models that they had shipped to the store.) When Apple starts to close off the supply chain for a given product, that's usually a good indicator of an impending replacement, and if memory serves, previous reports have suggested that Apple can flush almost their entire supply within about a week. With the WWDC just around the corner, that seems about right to me.
If a shock which doesn't hurt you can boost your mathematical skills (twitch!) for a mere six months, then obviously those electrical shocks which did hurt me, when I was fiddling (twitch!) with electronics as a kid must be what made me (twitch! twitch!) such a freaking genius!
If it doesn’t have a tail, it’s not a monkey
Even if it has a monkey kinda shape
If it doesn’t have a tail, it’s not a monkey
If it doesn’t have a tail
It’s not a monkey, it’s an ape!
First Sale Doctrine vs. copyright/trademark/patent owners is a balancing act between the originator and the buyer. Take away the privileges of either side, or grant additional powers to one side or the other, and the system becomes unbalanced... corrupted. Simply put, both pieces of legislation must remain intact, and must continue to exist in balance, or we all lose -- one way or another.
Bingo. This is exactly why I came to the comments of this post... to call "bull" on Nuance, for the very reason that you've already cited:
Nuance assumes that people don't want to have conversations with customer service reps -- but what they fail to consider is that most people do indeed enjoy human interaction... when it's actually human interaction. Whether it's the rep behind the counter at a hotel with their fake plastic smile and artificially exaggerated concern for your exhaustion, or the cashier at your local supermarket with their scowl and monotonous droning "Thank you... have a nice day..." it's all just forced and... well, predictably inhuman.
Generally speaking, people love interacting with their friends -- and for some of us, that even includes family -- and that type of camaraderie has largely been lost in today's customer services... the small town where you know Doris behind the register at the supermarket and your good buddy Joe who pumps your gas for you is gone. So the reaction from far too many people in "customer service" roles are, quite frankly, already so robotic as to offer no real advantages over the automated check-in kiosk and automated check-out registers... so why wouldn't I want the efficiency of an actual robot?
Now, mind you, if more companies were intentionally hiring employees who show genuine customer focused attitudes -- for example, in the same fashion as the folks running Chick-fil-a seem to have done -- then the pendulum might start swinging back the other way. In the absence of that, I'll go to the kiosk at every opportunity.
More weight also affects battery usage and efficiency. I'd imagine this little non-toy copter is very carefully engineered to balance the weight against the battery life. You wouldn't bother to put such engineering weight behind something manufactured to be a toy... but I wouldn't be too terribly surprised if the tech in these drones eventually makes its way to the toy market as well.
I imagine the extended battery life is one of the reasons for the standard copter design, instead of the quadcopter design. Size is almost certainly another factor; they want to minimize the space that these little drones take up in a rucksack, as much as possible.
... My Syma IR copter is impossible to fly outdoors even on days I'd consider to be relatively calm. ...
I have a similar IR toy copter, and I'm surprised you've been able to successfully fly it outdoors at all. The package of mine specifically states that it's not intended for outdoor use, and flying it indoors into a bright stream of sunlight coming through the front window of my house demonstrated very clearly why: the sunlight apparently obliterates the IR signals. My copter promptly became uncontrollable when it went into the sunbeam. As long as I kept it out of that sunbeam, all was fine.
Ban everyone with an incorrect or unjustified point and you'll have a pretty empty forum.
More importantly: ban just one person who knows enough to login to his Slashdot account afterwards, and you'll end up suffering the Streisand effect. At that point, it doesn't matter in the least whether or not the complainant's point was justified... they have just had a potentially significant negative impact on your business, all because you decided to foolishly attempt to censor a respectfully submitted opinion, instead of engaging in an intelligent discourse on the matter.
Or at least get it for consoles, where DRM isn't an issue.
Incorrect. DRM is still an "issue" on consoles; it's simply an issue which is so completely integrated into the system, that most people aren't even aware of it... but the reality is that console DRM is even harder to (ahem) "work around" than PC DRM. As an example: Try to make a copy of one of your console games, and then give that copy to your best friend, so that the two of you can play online together. Go ahead... we'll wait.
Well, not really... nobody is waiting for you. But then, why should we wait, when you're exceptionally unlikely to succeed at making that copy? The thing is, the process required to make a legitimate "backup" of a game (in order to have a fail-safe should your game disc ever become scratched or damaged) is exactly the same as the process required in the piracy scenario described above. This applies pretty much to all modern consoles -- and in some cases, the DRM isn't only applied to the games, but also to the saved game data and downloadable content. One recent story which highlights this with respect to Nintendo is over at ArsTechnica.com, but these issues exist to differing degrees on both PlayStation and XBox as well.
Oh... and the ultimate irony in all of this is that my current project is, by definition, an entire refactoring of a legacy project, which is no longer maintainable going forward. Life as a developer...
Incorrect; the only way to solve the "problem" of ten years of legacy code -- bad or not -- would be to refactor all of it. New Guy is obviously full of idealism and wants to do exactly that, while the OP just wants New Guy to go back to his desk and get some real work done.
Obligatory personal anecdote: On my current project, my supervisor (who is also a developer) has specifically stated that refactoring is not our priority until the deadline is met. Of course, everyone knows perfectly well that the next deadline will almost certainly be just as much of a pressure cooker as the current one -- which means that refactoring very rarely gets done at all, unless the old code is so bad that it hinders further progress. (I just finished refactoring some of our code for that very reason.)
Moral: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If it is broke, don't hesitate to acknowledge it, and do something about it.
There are no coders or technically literate people here.
Incorrect.
B-B-But...
Stacktrace.
Or.
GTFO.
It seems to me that this is just a few more minor discoveries away from Amy's talking tattoo. I mean, the medical applications may be important and all, but come on; I'm sure everyone here knows that practicality isn't really what drives innovation...
" 'Why do people still come to the office when they're coughing up a lung?' asks the exasperated Olshansky. 'Because unfortunately, there is a still a strong perverse culture that equates staying at home when sick with weakness. ... Given that we have the tools now to complete most tasks from home, ..."
I call bull. Corporate America has done everything it can to discourage staying home, period. I don't know a single person who would actually prefer to be at work while they're sick and miserable; we just don't have any other choice in the matter. For starters, some of us don't have any kind of "sick leave" that we could use for such things... we are forced to take vacation time, or "comprehensive leave" if we stay home sick. And despite the beliefs of some people, (like Olshansky, apparently) most jobs don't even have any kind of a "telecommute" equivalent... mine certainly doesn't.
Tell big businesses to give us back our sick leave, and I'll be happy to stay home and cough up my lungs there instead of in the office. Until then... I still have bills to pay.
They won't go "Well, we won't supply you any more" and get a new customer, they'll take you to court for the money.
Well... no. They'll just suspend your account for non-payment until you pay.
And that's part of the problem... the service provider ultimately has the upper hand, since the customer needs that internet connection a lot more then the service provider needs the remaining $7. As such, the reality is that pretty much any customer who tried that kind of stunt will panic and promptly pay up as soon as they realize that their internet has been shut off.
This service provider advantage is also why utility companies (gas, water, electricity, etc.) can so easily get away with charging outrageous "reconnection" fees, just to flip a switch and turn you back if you should happen to miss your payment date for some reason. As such, it's that much more important that the service provider be held accountable for their system of measurement. A "proprietary" system of measurement just doesn't hold water.
The notion that many or even most users of a new and largely untested (insert any-fracking-thing here) would prefer the one they were using and were comfortable with previously over this new and unfamiliar experience, is nothing short of blatantly obvious. Likewise, the notion that any new complex system is going to be completely perfect on day-one of release is utterly ludicrous. Crud... I'm a Mac user, and I'm not in the slightest surprised to hear that W8 users might want to go back to W7, any more then I would be surprised when any given Windows user who has migrated to a Mac expresses certain regrets over that move, now and then. Growing pains always suck... and in the case of W8, there's not really any seasoned users around, who might be able to help navigate through this new territory.
The real test of W8 will be to conduct the same type of survey a year or two from now, to see if switchers who have been using it for awhile still want to go back. Vista very (in)famously failed that test, which is what kept XP around for so long... but trying to conduct such a test now, on W8 early adopters is basically the same thing as testing to see if water is still wet.
Levity is tempting and all... but in all seriousness, YouTube is most definitely not one of my most frequented apps, and I don't sense much loss at it's removal from the default set. No loss at all, in fact... since Google will almost certainly roll out a non-bundled version of the app to coincide with the release of the final version of iOS 6. Oh, I'm sure I'll download the new YouTube app, alright, right after I install iOS 6... but it'll still sit buried in a folder, used once every few months or so when I hit an Angry Birds level that I simply can't figure out on my own -- just like the current version of the YouTube app.
Having complained bitterly about cellular prices for years myself, it actually pains me greatly to say this... but here's the thing: AT&T and Verizon are just applying standard economic principles; continue to raise prices until you can make the profit you want while expending the least amount of resources (money, time, effort, etc.). The side effect of this is obviously that many people who want lower prices will go to the less "greedy" carriers, like Sprint or T-Mobile, (which I will most likely be doing myself, not too long after the next iPhone becomes available) but the profit loss from those customers departing the greedy carriers offset by the profit increase from the remaining customers... and the greedy carriers' network performance improves in the process. Then, if their net numbers fall too much, they still have the option to dial the crazy back down a bit. (Not that I think they will necessarily... but they could. In theory.)
It may be increasingly annoying to us consumers to have to deal with the ever-changing business models of these greedy-no-good-predatory-profiteering-duopolistic-carriers... but the unfortunate reality is: it really is "just business," and not greed, per se.
(And yes... I almost pressed delete on this whole blasted message when I started to think about how much some Slashdotters are going to hate this point-of-view... but the heck with my Karma. Sometimes, ya just gotta say it like it is.)